A Cheerleader for Others, Virginia Governor Stands on His Own

RICHMOND, Va. — Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton toasted Terry McAuliffe, the incoming governor of Virginia, at a private dinner here Friday evening. Then they walked with him through the State Capitol on Saturday morning on the way to his inauguration and sat on the rain-soaked steps outside, smiling broadly under an umbrella as he took the oath not long after noon.

It was all to be expected. Mr. McAuliffe raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the Clintons’ campaigns, guaranteed the $1.35 million mortgage on their New York home and stayed loyal during various political trials. The Clintons have returned the favor, helping him become chairman of the Democratic National Committee and, last year, stumping and hosting fund-raisers for his campaign for governor.

But as Mr. McAuliffe delivered his address, with the Clintons seated in the row immediately behind their longtime friend, he made no mention of his political patrons.

After winning, on his second try, the governorship of his adopted state in November, Mr. McAuliffe on Saturday seemed intent on showing that he was his own man. And after being criticized during both runs as more a Washington wheeler-dealer than a Virginia gentleman, he also sought to demonstrate to an audience of the state’s legislators, lobbyists and former governors that he was dedicated to venerating a place that reveres its history.

So in the style of Virginia, Mr. McAuliffe extolled and quoted from the state’s founding sons — Thomas Jefferson received homage at the beginning and conclusion of his speech — and praised his more recent predecessors.

If the inauguration was a sort of political coming out party for the irrepressible “Macker,” as Mr. McAuliffe is known to many, after so many years as a fund-raiser and cheerleader, his remarks underlined his determination that he now be recognized as something more than an extension of one of America’s former, and perhaps future, first families.

“This is now Terry McAuliffe, the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia,” explained Harold Schaitberger, the longtime president of the International Association of Fire Fighters and a political ally of the new governor. “This is the beginning of his going from being a horse to being a jockey. This is his day. This isn’t the day to live in the shadow of great friends in great places.”

But Mr. Schaitberger also said that the Clintons were like “two beaming parents” the previous night at a dinner for friends and family members in one of the city’s private clubs.

As Mr. Clinton strolled around the ground floor of the neo-Classical Capitol before the swearing-in, he embraced the role of proud parent and tried not to cast a shadow.

“He’ll be great today. He doesn’t need my help,” Mr. Clinton said in response to a question.

Mr. McAuliffe, as he leaned over the dais after the ceremony to greet a few supporters and pose for the cameras, told reporters that he appreciated the former president’s presence — “For him to come today was really special,” he said — but plainly did not want to linger on the topic. “You ready to dance tonight?” he bellowed in his usual way at a supporter, alluding to the evening’s balls.

The mere fact that Mr. McAuliffe, who in his youth wrestled an alligator for a political contribution and more recently hoisted a bottle of rum on live TV, is governor at all is remarkable.

“McAuliffe is the most improbable Virginia governor in my lifetime,” said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia professor who has been tracking his state’s politics since the 1960s.

Or, as Representative James P. Moran, Democrat of Virginia, put it with a belly laugh: “I just finished reading his book, ‘What a Party,’ and I thought, ‘What a country!’ Only in America could a personality like Terry’s become governor,” he said, referring to Mr. McAuliffe’s exuberance.

Even Mr. Clinton seemed a bit awed by the moment. When his golfing buddy was first introduced as, in the Virginia custom, “His Excellency, Terence R. McAuliffe,” the former president could not suppress a large grin or a look on his face that mixed “I love it” with “I cannot believe it.”

After the address, while Mr. Clinton shook hands with attendees, Mrs. Clinton made it a point to get the new governor’s attention, speak with him and give him a final embrace.

That this was an atypical Virginia inauguration was evident from the scene in and around the Jefferson-designed Capitol. Nobody here could recall a president coming to Richmond for the swearing-in of a governor. Of course, there was the usual bipartisan bonhomie and formal gray morning suits, both standard at these tradition-bound gatherings. But there was also Huma Abedin, an aide to Mrs. Clinton and the wife of former Representative Anthony Weiner of New York, seated a row in front of the departing governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell.

The longtime Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, mingled with his onetime presidential rival, former Gov. Doug Wilder of Virginia. Sporting a “Grimes for Senate” pin was Jerry Lundergan, the former Democratic chairman of Kentucky and father of the Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes. Mr. Lundergan has long been a supporter of the Clintons and was chairman of Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign in the 2008 Kentucky primary. (He reminded a reporter of how convincingly she beat Barack Obama, then a senator, there.)

The Clinton aura was unmistakable. One Republican even made a “Clinton time” joke about the tardiness of the day’s proceedings. (The delay was actually related to the threat of lightning.) It was also lost on few in either party that the Clintons were at their second inauguration in two weeks, having attended the swearing-in of Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York on Jan. 1. Like Mr. McAuliffe, Mr. de Blasio has ties to the former first family, having worked on Mrs. Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign.

The Clintons’ road show is not entirely a victory lap — Mr. de Blasio asked Mr. Clinton to swear him in — but the old pros here said they saw the beginnings of a Clinton restoration.

“What does it mean?” Mr. Wilder said with a knowing laugh after the inauguration. “Obviously, it means to a lot of people that Hillary is running.”

Of course, Mr. Wilder added, both Mr. de Blasio and Mr. McAuliffe are friends of the Clintons.

“So they got two good excuses,” Mr. Wilder said, his voice slowly drowned out by the marching bands from the parade. “However, those of us who might see something different.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A15 of the New York edition with the headline: After Winning, a Cheerleader For Others Stands on His Own. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe